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(NOV 22) Boxing, the most primal of sports,
is, at it's essence, two fighters fighting. Talk is unnecessary since
once fighters get in the ring, the issue of who is better is clearly
evident. Likewise, when an overabundance of talk threatens to overwhelm
the sport, there is a tendency to shout: "Shut up and let the fighters
fight." The sport seems to be entrapped in such a period: too much talk,
much too much talk and not enough fighting.
Looking for a root cause of the current plague of bloviating, one turns
to last February and a six round bout between Jelena Mrdjenovich and
Layla McCarter. McCarter won the fight and both boxers were, rightly,
praised for their skill in the ring. Not surprisingly, a return bout was
quickly arranged, since getting two good fighters in the same ring is a
rare occurrence, these days, in the sport of Women's boxing. In June,
Mrdjenovich won the return bout, over eight rounds, a fight partially
marred by an arm injury McCarter suffered midway through the bout.
McCarter has been inactive since that fight, while Mrdjenovich continued
her winning ways in August with a four round TKO against Le Anne
Villareal and last Friday with a six round stoppage of Franchesa
Alcanter. It is fair to note that neither Villareal, a 1-3-1 fighter,
nor Alcanter, is a fighter who reminds anyone of Layla McCarter as far
as boxing skill is concerned. The Mrdjenovich/Alcanter fight was the
main event on a PPV program in Edmonton, BC, part of Rock and Sock
Promotion's "World Title Wave" card and Mrdjenovich came away with both
the IWBF and WBC Superfeatherweight titles.
Unfortunately, it was at this point, when the fighting stopped, the
talking started. Shortly after the bout, Milan Lubovac, Mrdjenovich's
manager, was quoted saying his boxer was the only fighter on the card
worth watching. While, it is valid to point out that three of the four
bouts on the card, including Mrdjenovich/Alcanter, failed to live up to
"world title" level, the fact is that two very good fighters, Chevelle
Hallback and Jeannine Garside also won bouts that night. In fact,
Garside's win over Lisa Brown was the lone bout on the card that
deserved a "world title" label. Not surprisingly, shortly thereafter,
both the Hallback and Garside contingents were heard from, responding to
Lubovac's comments.
Butch Gottlieb, Hallback's mentor, took exception to the remarks, noting
that a logical next bout for Mrdjenovich would be with Chevelle Hallback,
given her (Hallback) number one ranking in the WBC Jr. Lightweight
division. Almost on cue, Jeannine Garside's manager, Margaret Sidoroff,
noted that her fighter would be more than willing to step in with
Mrdjenovich and demonstrate her (Garside) punching power. It should be
noted that Sidoroff brings a "been there, done that" credibility to her
remarks, an 8-0 professional record before her retirement, five years
ago. Additionally, Garside, while having only had four professional
bouts, does have an extensive amateur career, and, based on her win over
Brown, seems ready for any level of competition.
It was up to Layla McCarter to complete the growing "roundtable"
discussion and she complied with a "don't forget about me" missive,
noting that, for Lubovac's information, there were two worthy opponents
for Mrdjenovich, Chevelle Hallback and Layla McCarter and McCarter's
preference for a third bout with Mrdjenovich was quite apparent. At this
point, it fell to Milan Lubovac to retire the "foot in the mouth" award
with his response to McCarter. He was well up to the task. Ignoring the
penalty for practicing medicine without a license, Lubovac, incredibly,
questioned whether McCarter, who, has been unable to properly train for
nearly six months, was actually injured in the second bout with
Mrdjenovich. Not satisfied with mere absurdity, Lubovac took it to the
next level of foolishness by noting that he "had brought (McCarter) to
Edmonton (to fight Mrdjenovich) twice" and then, disingenuously,
questioned why McCarter "wanted to keep fighting in our hometown."
Sometimes it's best to know when to stop talking. (McCarter,
subsequently, provided proof of her injury and resulting treatment to
"Doctor" Lubovac).
The primary downside of this situation is not the overabundance of talk
and a relative dearth of good boxing inside the ring (although that is a
concern), but it's the fact that a number of boxing people, probably
well intentioned boxing people, whose primary concern should be the
furtherance of the sport of Women's boxing, are wasting time carping at
one another on subjects of little or no consequence to the future of the
sport and their fighters. Jelena Mrdjenovich, Layla McCarter, Chevelle
Hallback and Jeannine Garside are good fighters, very good fighters.
Likewise, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that Milo Lubovac is a
manager who knows that the best career move for his fighter is to climb
into the ring with the best fighters available. There are three good
fighters out there right now and anyone of them, in the ring with Jelena
Mrdjenovich or with each other, would be a main event on any card in the
country. So instead of taking "talk radio" potshots at other fighters,
Milo Lubovac should pick up the phone and talk with Margaret Sidoroff
and Butch Gottlieb and Luis Tapia, Layla McCarter's manager, out in Las
Vegas. That's the right kind of talk with the right kind of people and
it can result in the right kind of boxing match-ups for four good
fighters. It can also result in a kick start for a sport that needs the
kind of help that good fighters and dedicated managers can provide.
Bernie McCoy
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